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Bench Talk / Off The Wire

The Venues

Thursday night in Peterborough, I watched the Attack and Petes go to overtime in the Memorial Centre.

There's much discussion about a NEW venue on the horizon in Peterborough, along with significant lament that the $ 11 million dollar upgrade to the Mem Centre done a decade ago was wasted money.

Can we compare Owen Sound and Peterborough ?

Not really.

Based on population, Peterborough is about 4 times the size of Owen Sound.

Yet on Thursday night, the announced attendance for the Eastern Conference leading Petes home game was close to 2,600.

The Attack who were 4th in the Western Conference have drawn in excess of 3,000 since mid-December.

Furthermore, is it fair to compare venues ?

Again, not really.

But I will say this, with the Attack, the NHL Alumni game, the SCTA Major Peewee tournament, plus the CWOSSA Boys and Girls Hockey playdowns today and tomorrow, the three ice pads in the city are getting a heavy and varied workload and from my view, a lot of out-of-town cash is being pumped into the community and region thanks to those Owen Sound venues.